When God Gives You Tomatoes, Make Salsa

Our garden is growing tomatoes!  We have to pick them a bit before they are perfectly ripe or the birds and groundsquirrels and rabbit will eat them.  But that's not trouble since the boys like to go out and harvest tomatoes every day.  As soon as the tomatoes have started to turn orange the kids (and the cousins and the friends) want to pluk them from the vines.

We leave them on the counter until they turn a nice red.  My favorite use for them is salsa.  My favorite recipe is a variation on the recipe for Tableside Guacamole from the Flying V Bar & Grill at Ventana Canyon.

Salsa Fresca
3-4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped fine
1 handful cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Juice from 1 large or 2 small limes

Mix all ingredients together. Serve with tortilla chips, on tacos, with veggies, etc.
Most recipes also call for 1/2 a red onion, diced, but I usually omit it. 
To make guacamole, add a couple avocados (peeled, diced and gently mashed).

The garden is looking fair these days.  It has gotten hot here and the summer rains haven't started yet. 

Mr. Stripey tomato.  These are obviously a larger tomato than the Roma so I always have trouble with them splitting.  But aren't the stripes and blotches pretty.  When I make salsa I use whatever tomatoes are ripe, including some of these beauties. 

After the salsa, I may need to branch out to find more tomato recipes.  I have a tomato sauce recipe marked over at SouleMama and the Mini-Farming book has a recipe for ketchup...but it starts with 25 pounds of tomatoes.  We're not quiet that prolific, yet!